Kansas Preview

This year, the Month of May opens, not in Indianapolis, but at Kansas Speedway. This isn’t the first time that the IZOD IndyCar Series has raced at another location in early May. In 1999, the series ran the ill-fated race at Charlotte on May 1 that fatally injured three spectators. I happened to be in the stands that evening. The remaining race was cancelled; there were no points awarded and the crowd left in a somber mood. This is the first time to race in early May, since then.

There are differing accounts as to why the Kansas race is being run on Saturday afternoon. Some blame it on ABC, so that they could show the NBA playoffs on Sunday. Others say it was the track itself that chose to run the NASCAR Truck Series on Sunday, while running the IndyCars on Saturday. I shudder to think that those in charge of the league last year would actually agree to play second-fiddle to the Truck Series – so I’ll choose to go with the ABC theory, although I don’t really know.

There are those that say that this will be a boring race, based on previous races there. It’s true that last year’s race was a complete yawner as Scott Dixon lead a single-file parade that saw little passing after the last round of pit stops. It was a cool, cloudy day and the cars were still using the "pre-Kentucky" aero package.

In fact, the last few races at Kansas have been snoozers. Ever since the race was moved to the spring, the racing has not been very exciting. The IZOD IndyCar Series race at Kansas used to be run around the Fourth of July weekend, where the heat was intense – but so was the racing. Who could forget the lap after lap, wheel to wheel battle between Rahal-Letterman teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira in 2004? When the race was run in July, the competition was fierce. Once the fans voiced their preference for cooler weather and moving the race to the spring, the racing seemed to cool off as well. I’m not sure if there is a correlation, but something changed to make this race so boring in recent years.

Kansas Speedway was part of the sudden proliferation of ovals that came about ten to fifteen years ago. From the mid-nineties to the beginning of the last decade, oval tracks sprouted up at Chicago, California (Fontana), Miami (Homestead), Texas, Nashville, Kentucky and Kansas. Of all those tracks, some may be faster or provide better racing – but none have more glowing reports as an all-around great venue than Kansas.

I’ve never been to the track at Kansas, but I’m told I need to go. I hear it is a model that other tracks should follow as far as amenities, cleanliness, concessions, parking, access and seating.

One fear that overshadows this year’s race is the immediate future of the event. Kansas Speedway greatly covets a second NASCAR Sprint Cup date. The track is owned by ISC, who essentially is NASCAR; so it’s not too far out of the realm of possibility that they might get what they want. Second Cup dates at other ISC tracks have made IZOD IndyCar Series events expendable in their eyes (see Phoenix, California, Michigan). Currently, there are no ISC tracks on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule that host two NASCAR Sprint Cup events. If Kansas lands a second cup date, I think IndyCar fans can kiss Kansas goodbye.

The attention for teams and fans now shifts to the ovals, as Saturday begins a two month stretch of four ovals in a row. After Kansas awaits the Indianapolis 500, then races at Texas and Iowa before returning to the road course at Watkins Glen on the Fourth of July. For some drivers, this is a chance for redemption while others see it as a time of vulnerability.

Points leader Will Power was dominant on the road/street course portion of the schedule. How he races at Kansas is a big question mark. He didn’t race at all there last year, as he was running a part-time schedule for Roger Penske and he sat out the race. In 2008, he crashed in turn two on lap 23 while driving the Aussie Vineyards car for KV Racing Technology. Other than a fifth place finish at Chicago in the last race of the season, his 2008 record on the ovals was mediocre at best. He ran on two ovals for Penske in 2009 – a fifth at Indianapolis and a ninth at Kentucky. I’m not sure if I would label him as vulnerable, but I think it’s safe to say that the ovals are not his strong suit.

Danica Patrick, on the other hand, is probably the happiest of any driver to get on an oval. Other than a seventh place finish at St. Petersburg, her season to this point, has been abysmal as she sits mired in sixteenth place in the points standings. Dan Wheldon and his Panther Racing team are another group that is probably glad to see the ovals. Although they seem to have improved their road/street course program to some extent – they are traditionally much stronger on the ovals. Wheldon is a two-time winner of this event, so I expect him to do well on Saturday.

The guys at Target Chip Ganassi Racing need to have a good day on Saturday. Although it certainly isn’t time to panic, their season thus far has been sub-par by their standards. Scott Dixon won this race last year. Dixon and teammate Dario Franchitti sit sixth and fifth in the points, respectively. To get the momentum they’ll want going into Indy, one of them needs to come away with the win on Saturday.

Another team that needs a good showing this weekend is Dreyer & Reinbold. Neither of their drivers has the reputation of performing well on ovals. But this team made a lot of offseason changes for the better and I expect them to do well. Look for engineer Larry Curry to work his magic and get Justin Wilson and Mike Conway up to speed. Then it will be up to the drivers to keep the car out of the fence.

Team Penske is certainly not starving for results – but Ryan Briscoe is, as he sits in a disappointing seventh place in the standings. Between brain-fades on Briscoe’s part and miscues in qualifying, that team’s season has not gotten off to the start they had hoped for. Briscoe’s teammates, Will Power and Helio Castroneves, sit first and second in the points. Briscoe needs a strong weekend in Kansas to keep pace and get his season back on track, heading into Indy.

Tony Kanaan could also stand a decent finish. At a quick glance, one gets the impression that Kanaan is having a better season than last, but he is sitting in eighth position in points. He left Kansas last season in the points lead. It was after that point that his season quickly unraveled. A win or a strong finish at Kansas could do wonders to jump-start a mediocre start to his season.

Kanaan’s Andretti Autosport teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, just needs to continue his strong start. His strength is on the road/street courses, but if he can have a strong finish at Kansas – look out for RHR at Indy. Their other teammate, Marco Andretti, needs to keep his nose clean at Kansas and be ready for a strong showing at Indy. Marco’s record at the Speedway alternates between good years and bad years. If history is any indication, Marco is poised to have a good showing at Indianapolis this year.

Other than the obvious picks, my dark horse for Kansas is Rafa Matos. After a strong start at Brazil, his results have gotten worse each week. Matos and his Luczo Dragon de Ferran Motorsports team are too good to settle for these types of results. I look for them to be strong at Kansas also.

The weather looks iffy at best, but hopefully they can get the race in and it can be a good show. The IZOD IndyCar Series seems to have a lot of momentum on its side right now. The hope is that a lot of Saturday viewers will find the race on ABC, like what they see and follow the series into the Month of May. Let’s hope they do.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on April 30, 2010 at 4:02 am and is filed under IndyCar . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Kansas Preview”

Maybe if Nascar wants Kansas in the spring, they’ll move Indy back to July. They’re putting a lot of money into that track, you’d think they’d like to keep it busy. Agree about Nashville too, I think they should be back there.

I think the four road/street races in a row to start the season is too much. They should mix in an oval there somewhere for the variety.
As far as Daniker, I don’t see her doing anything much except maybe finishing eighth like ususal. I’m curious to see how Simona does on an oval. And is it just me or does Andretti Autosport have ten million cars?

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed watching a race at Kansas, so I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised this year. I’m definitely looking forward to a stretch of oval racing. Even if it’s another Kansas snoozer it will still be a nice change of pace from the twisties.

As far as losing another ISC track, with the exception of Chicagoland, all the ISC tracks I like are already off the schedule (MIS, Phoenix, Fontana) so losing Kansas won’t bother me as much as a lot of other IndyCar fans. To its credit, I’ve heard from many fans that Kansas is an awesome facility though.

You’ll hear the same from me as you have from other folks. Last year’s race wasn’t very good, I think largely due to the teams being very, very conservative with setups due to the wind, but the facility is fantastic. Everybody thanks you for coming (a very underrated touch), the food is very good (though it does, like every other track, fall short of Road America’s fare), there’s plenty of bathrooms and concession stands, plenty of space for slouching around when nothing’s on track, sightlines are fantastic (as they ought to be), and on and on. If the racing were just a touch better, it’d be a top-5 date on the schedule. The aero package got breathed on since last year’s race, hopefully the wind won’t be as bad tomorrow as it was last year, and plus if it rains out today we could see a 1-day crunched schedule like Chicagoland last year that produced such a great race. I’ve got my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Ok, I enjoyed the race this year! Granted, Dixie’s domination took away some of the drama, and there wasn’t tons of passing, but it felt racey this year. Loved some of the storylines as this one played out. Particularly, the runs Mutoh and Sato made (up until their demise near the end of course!)

It is on to Indy my friends, and I am excited as you all are! Near the end of the telecast, when Marty mentioned the next time we’d see the IndyCar Series in action would be in Indy……….I got goosebumps. Can’t explain it. But I know I don’t need to. It’s Indy. What is understood need not be discussed!!!!! :)))))) Here we go!